Things about some parents that irk me

[ChrisFL]

A little background, Im a 27 year old single male without children. This isn't a stereotype of parents in the U.S. but it seems like there's a lot of confusion about what's deemed "kids things" and whats deemed "adult things".

Namely, video games and cartoons. South Park is NOT a kids cartoon, Beavis and Butthead was not a kids cartoon. Grand Theft Auto is NOT a kids video game, Mortal Kombat was not a kids video game. Those are just a couple of examples of a LOT more cartoons and video games with the same adult themes.

It just seems that some parents assume that these forms of media are ok for kids and are "safe". There's a reason why those cartoons are played late at night (although I DO realize that wasn't always the case). South Park has a warning and a rating in the beginning of every episode. Games like Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto have ratings on them that say "M for MATURE".

I just dont get why this isn't enough for some parents to realize they shouldn't allow their kids access to these things.

 

[NAB]

I would like to know that to. I have a 9 year old boy who is always saying to me but his mom lets him. That goes for movies that other parents rent or buy. I just keep saying he isn't my kid, your mine and you have our rules.

 

[Serena]

I agree with you. I can't think of any of my kid's friends that don't do or watch some of that.

 

[paigevz]

I thought that was why they started the rating system in the first place...........some still don't know? Maybe they just don't care.............

 

[tiggersmom2]

I don't worry about what other parents let their kids do.

 

[CherCrazy]

Unfortunately, the answer is amazingly simple. Some parents don't know how be a parent and just to say "no".

 

[JadenLayne]

I guess I'm a bad parent because my 15 year old watches South Park and plays Grand Theft Auto. He knows the difference between reality and fiction and actually doesn't care for GTA. He does like South Park though but he hears worse than that in the locker room at school.

My opinon (and mine only) is that hes going to see and hear much worse and I would rather him watch things at home and ASK ME (which he has done) then hear the wrong things at school. Hes a good kid and I trust him.

Oh and after reading some of the above things I have to say I DID NOT let him do this before he turned 14 last year. It was an absolute NO before he started 8th grade.

 

[golfgal]

I guess I'm a bad parent because my 15 year old watches South Park and plays Grand Theft Auto. He knows the difference between reality and fiction and actually doesn't care for GTA. He does like South Park though but he hears worse than that in the locker room at school.

My opinon (and mine only) is that hes going to see and hear much worse and I would rather him watch things at home and ASK ME (which he has done) then hear the wrong things at school. Hes a good kid and I trust him.

Oh and after reading some of the above things I have to say I DID NOT let him do this before he turned 14 last year. It was an absolute NO before he started 8th grade.

15 is a lot different then 8 or 9. I know plenty of kids that are 7,8,9 years old that watch shows like South Park or play video games that are marked M.

 

[CEDmom]

I don't worry about what other parents let their kids do.

I don't either but I do worry about what other parents might let MY child do while at their house. Luckily this hasn't been as issue so far but it probably will in the future. Now we don't let DD in the company of anyone we don't know very well w/o DH or I with her.

 

[Robinrs]

I've always been amazed at the choices parents make, but then I think.. they're the ones who have to live with the results!!!!

Then I mind my business and raise my only child to the best of my ability, learning from the mistakes of others.

Chris, I was 27 and childless once myself and when I finally had my son at 36 all of the shock and awe parent messes I had observed in my life taught me what not to do with my son.

He's 13 now and so far so good....

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I guess I'm a bad parent because my 15 year old watches South Park and plays Grand Theft Auto. He knows the difference between reality and fiction and actually doesn't care for GTA. He does like South Park though but he hears worse than that in the locker room at school.

My opinon (and mine only) is that hes going to see and hear much worse and I would rather him watch things at home and ASK ME (which he has done) then hear the wrong things at school. Hes a good kid and I trust him.

Oh and after reading some of the above things I have to say I DID NOT let him do this before he turned 14 last year. It was an absolute NO before he started 8th grade.

I am with ya. My bad parenting has turned out a couple of very polite, amazing kids though!

 

[MushyMushy]

I'll be brave and say it.

My DS was a fairly young adolescent when I let him watch stuff like that.

I went to a video store to rent South Park, the Movie for him once and got into an argument with the clerk over it. He told me I couldn't rent it for DS, and I was stunned that there was a 19 or so year old telling me what I could or couldn't do.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OP, do you watch SouthPark or play video games?

Have you seen the lastest kid cartoon or movie? If you have not go watch some of them. Settle in for an evening of Adult Swim or even just Cartoon Network.

Then you might have your answer....

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Written by someone with no children. Priceless.
Wait... Just wait...

 

[barkley]

but what 'other parents' let their kids watch/play DOES affect my kids. it's realy disheartening when you try to have your kid limit their viewing/gaming to age appropriate stuff and then they come home from school and start quoting lines from stuff like southpark (and not the cut version that i still won't let them watch on network tv), trying to enlist a younger sib. to play out the 'cool stuff' their friend played with them from the latest violent video game...

when i was teaching k and 3rd graders i had to spend way to much time explaining to kids why they could'nt recount/get everyone to play a game surrounding the storyline of the 'cool' movie mom and dad let them watch that 17 year olds were'nt permitted to see or rent. it is neither cute nor funny to see a 5 year old reinacting scences from 'american pie' or quoting the 'what i did with my flute at bandcamp' lines during sharing time. and when you have other parents calling irate because someone's kid taught the latest 'dance moves' (read simulated intercourse) to their kid who then began sharing them with the neighbor kids....you find that those parents decisions can have far reaching implications.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I am 28 and don't have any kids either, but I am a Kindergarten teacher and I see this WAY too much! My kids are constantly talking about R movies they watch (and NC-17 for that matter.) They go into detail about movies that are so gorry I won't even watch them. They act out things from Mortal Combat games and Grand Theft Auto as well. It's really, really sad. The saddest part is they aren't 'kids' anymore. When we (rarely) get to have movie days at school we can only watch things that are rated G and the kids last a whole 15 minutes and they're totally bored and want to do something else. I know it's not my place to tell the parents how to parent, so I tread very lightly.


ETA: Acting out rap videos too, at the ages of 5 and 6!! Try explaining that one to the other kids' parents.

 

[barkley]

I am 28 and don't have any kids either, but I am a Kindergarten teacher and I see this WAY too much! My kids are constantly talking about R movies they watch (and NC-17 for that matter.) They go into detail about movies that are so gorry I won't even watch them. They act out things from Mortal Combat games and Grand Theft Auto as well. It's really, really sad. The saddest part is they aren't 'kids' anymore. When we (rarely) get to have movie days at school we can only watch things that are rated G and the kids last a whole 15 minutes and they're totally bored and want to do something else. I know it's not my place to tell the parents how to parent, so I tread very lightly.


ETA: Acting out rap videos too, at the ages of 5 and 6!! Try explaining that one to the other kids' parents.

and allot of the parents of kids that age will 'explain' that they did'nt get it for the kids to watch but they did'nt think it would harm the kid if they were watching it while the kid was around ('they're too young to understand it')-and that's just the point-they ARE too young to understand it so they don't know that the behaviour is'nt age appropriate or is'nt realistic and they start incorperating it or emulating it. and then these same parents wonder why when their dd is 'only in 3rd grade' she's making sexualy inappropriate remarks/acting out sexualy to the boys, sneaking 'paris hilton' type clothes in her backpack to try and change into for school...it just gets to be too much!

 

[VSL]

Depends what you mean by 'children'.

When I say 'children', I generally mean pre-teens. If this is the case, then I agree about South Park (I like it, but I've seen some pretty disturbing episodes!). Don't really know much about the others (although BF has GTA, but I don't play it myself).

However, when you get to the teenage years, I think it's a bit different, and by that point they are pretty much exposed to bad language / 'adult' conversations and the like nearly every day anyway. And I think, by then, they 'get it', for the most part.

When I was young I was never into that stuff anyway. However, my best friend (we've grown apart now) was, and used to watch movies like Nightmare on Elm Street at a very young age.

 

[ChrisFL]

OP, do you watch SouthPark or play video games?

Have you seen the lastest kid cartoon or movie? If you have not go watch some of them. Settle in for an evening of Adult Swim or even just Cartoon Network.

Then you might have your answer....

Answer to what? Why parents let their kids buy or watch it? I don't understand your point. Yes, I play video games and used to watch South Park in the first few years...still don't see your point.

And yes I do mean kids, not teens because those are really a case by case basis. Im just referring to how many clueless parents there are who don't know anything about cartoons or video games and just assume they're all kids stuff. Then some kids emulate what they see and the parents dont know why.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Answer to what? Why parents let their kids buy or watch it? I don't understand your point. Yes, I play video games and used to watch South Park in the first few years...still don't see your point.

And yes I do mean kids, not teens because those are really a case by case basis. Im just referring to how many clueless parents there are who don't know anything about cartoons or video games and just assume they're all kids stuff. Then some kids emulate what they see and the parents dont know why.

I said you need to sit down and watch Adult Swim and Cartoon Network to understand.

The stuff they run for "children" these days is just as bad as "SouthPark".